


every name is real (that's the nature of names)

by kayteedancer



Series: November Challenge [28]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Gen, Names, Post-Canon, Queen Sansa, Sansa Stark is Queen in the North, Sansa-centric, The Power of Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:01:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12861222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayteedancer/pseuds/kayteedancer
Summary: In the future, when histories were written of what came to be known as The War of Five Kings and the War for the Dawn, historians would call her the Red Wolf, the Wolf Queen, the Queen of Winter, the Queen in the North. None would call herSansa.





	every name is real (that's the nature of names)

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, I'm late again. I'm so sorry everyone! I've been having so much trouble getting these out on time as this challenge draws to a close. But nevertheless, here's Day 28! The prompt for today was: _“Even if you’re scared you should call them by their name. It is what makes them human.” “But that’s what I’m afraid of.”_
> 
> I didn't really follow this prompt...oops? I got so caught up in names and how they define who we are as people and what names will be recorded in history that the dialogue never really became part of the story. But the inspiration for this ASOIAF/GOT Sansa-centric entry definitely has its roots in that prompt.
> 
> To all of you that have stuck with me throughout this challenge: thank you so much! I adore each and every one of you <3 To those of you who are just joining me: welcome! I hope you enjoy you this story and take a look at the others found here.
> 
> Please feel free to come say hi over on my tumblr (sleepeatdancedream)! I would love to chat with you all and maybe even get some prompts! You never know, they might turn into future stories from me! ;)
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy Day 28!
> 
> Title is a quote by Jerry Spinelli.

In the future, when histories were written of what came to be known as The War of Five Kings and the War for the Dawn, historians would call her the Red Wolf, the Wolf Queen, the Queen of Winter, the Queen in the North. None would call her _Sansa_.  

None would remember the name her father and mother had chosen for her so carefully, cradling her small body in their hands and warming her with their love. None would remember the little bird who had sung so prettily in her gilded cage surrounded by lions only to escape one cage for another high amongst the clouds. And another in the place that had once been her home. And another in the duty she had to uphold her brother’s rule.

The truth is, the moment the Northern Lords had declared Jon their king, her name began to disappear.  The smallfolk called her _m’lady_ , the Lords called her _Lady Stark_ and _Princess_ and when Jon had come home with a Dragon Queen at his side, they cried out  _Wolf Queen, Winter’s Queen, the Queen in the North_.

Her name became the sole property of her family, of Arya and Bran and Jon (never Aegon). It would fall from their lips with ease and she would startle and flinch when she realized that they were talking to her, that she was _Sansa_ and not _My Queen_.

When Bran left to become take up his mantle as the Three-Eyed Raven, Sansa ensured that he would be remembered, commissioned tapestries and stories telling of Bran the Seer and how he helped defeat the Night’s King by taking control of his strongest asset, his reanimated Ice Dragon, and cutting through the swathes of Others in a sea of unholy fire.

When Arya left after the Dawn to travel, left to Braavos and Pentos and Asshai and Old Valyria, Sansa ensured the world knew her through songs of the Wild Wolf, of the Second Coming of Lyanna Stark, of the Wolf Maid too wild to control and too strong to tame.  Her story grew and changed and survived long after she had finally died.

When Jon left her for the throne in the South, she reminded everyone of her sibling, the once King in the North now King on the Iron Throne.  She always addressed her letters to him as Jon, never Aegon, never let him forget that he was first and foremost a Stark regardless of whatever mark was left on him of fire and blood.

But when her family left her, so too did her name.

_Sansa_ did not sit on the Throne of Winter, a spiked crown of bronze and iron adorning her brow.   _Sansa_ did not pass the sentence and swing the sword. _Sansa_ did not lead the North and the Vale and the Trident into an age of prosperity after the Dawn returned.

The _Wolf Queen_ did. The _Queen in the North_  did.

Maybe it was for the best that her name was lost. _Sansa_ was a stupid, little bird good for nothing more than singing what had been shoved down her throat and taught to her by septas.   _Sansa_ had suffered unimaginable cruelties at the hands of men that thought to _control_ her, thought to _break_  her, thought to take her claim for their own and _rule_ her.

_Sansa_ was not a name for the steel in her spine, for the ice in her eyes, for the scars on her skin.   _Sansa_ was not a name for the wolf she had become.

The Wolf Queen sat on the weirwood Throne of Winter and led the North, the Vale, and the Trident into a new world after the Dawn.  And when she died, _Red Wolf_ was carved into her statue in the crypts by her daughter Lyarra, the second Queen of Winter.

And though all the proceeding Kings and Queens of Winter can trace their lineage back to her, there are no daughters named for the first Queen in the North after the Dawn. And somewhere in the afterlife, the Red Wolf smiles.

_Sansa_ was not a name for a wolf.


End file.
